Conventionally, a glow plug, for example, has been used so as to assist startup of an internal combustion engine such as an automotive engine. Such a glow plug has a generally known structure in which a sheath heater or a ceramic heater is supported by a cylindrical tubular housing made of metal such that a forward end portion of the heater projects from the housing and a rear end portion of the heater is held within the housing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
The glow plug also has a thread (external thread) portion formed on the outer circumference of the housing. When the glow plug is attached to, for example, an automotive engine, the glow plug is inserted into an attachment hole (through-hole) formed in the engine head of the automotive engine, and the thread portion of the housing is brought into screw engagement with a thread (internal thread) portion formed on the inner circumference of the attachment hole, to thereby fix the glow plug.
The glow plug also has a tapered surface which is formed on the outer circumferential surface of a forward end portion of the housing such that the diameter at the rear end thereof is greater than that at the forward end thereof. Meanwhile, the attachment hole of the engine head has a seat surface with which the tapered surface comes into contact. The airtightness between the internal combustion engine and the glow plug is maintained by bringing the tapered surface into contact with the seat surface.